As We Go: x
by Morganel
Summary: It's an unlikely coming together. Neither expect to be with the other; but they are, and they don't think they could be with anyone else quite the same way. Named: Corporal LAURA Reilly. The Story is better than the summary I promise. Will be M later.
1. Enjoying the Scenery

Alicia Washington keeps her jaw tight and her fists clenched_. This is absolutely ridiculous_. She's without a shirt, stripped to her bra. _Thank God that Lizard Ratfuck Piece of Shit Dinosaur_ hit her below her chest or she'd be giving the entire convoy a pretty damn nice view. She'd refused pain meds; _almost_ always does and simply clenches her leather jacket in her fists; focuses on breathing through the primitive urge to flinch each time a new area within her wound decides to throb. She doesn't shut her eyes. Simply clenches her jaw, and (if she dares) utters curses and pained groans inconspicuously. The Field Doc attending to her is good though she'll boast to herself that she would have had the wound cleaned and irrigated much faster, but in all she can't complain. She can finally relax when she feels the familiar cold tingle of the mending gel as it knits her skin cells back into place and lets her jacket fall onto her bag next to the bed.

"Do you want the 'smooth'?" The Doctor asks and she quirks a brow at him. He rolls his eyes knowing too well that Lieutenant Alicia Washington doesn't _remove_ her scars.

"You know the answer to that one. Let me see it." She says motioning with her hand for him to hover a mirror over her left side, low down near her hip. She's being completely honest with herself when she says the new addition to the collection of scars that litter her body is an impressive one. It will fade, it isn't as deep as some of the others but it's deep enough. It snakes from just below her bottom rib hugging the shape and moving down her side to her hip- where it over laps with an old scar- and again hugs the shape of her hip bone. Her body is humming with exhaustion and she knows she won't be let out of the trauma tent for at least a few more hours.

"Fucking dinosaurs." She mutters, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

"You should get some sleep Lieutenant. The mending gel will have completed its job in an hour but you shouldn't jump back into anything strenuous until tomorrow." He rolls over the usual spiel, full of _shoulds_ and _shouldn'ts_; if Nathaniel had been here he'd have told her flat out "Wash, your ass isn't going to budge off this bed 'til dawn." She has to grin as she hears it play in her head.

"Will do, Doc." She says taking a deep breath of cool damp air. Her eyes wander the Med Tent; more than a few soldiers had been injured. Nothing terrible, worst was probably the fresh she'd shoved out of the way. He'd suffered a concussion and was still out cold. _It's only been ten minutes, Alicia._ She reminds herself. She does a mental double take when she notices Corporal Laura Reilly's eyes on her. She too has been stripped down to her bra, same sturdy black design, holding _the two things that make being a woman in the military just a tad more difficult_ securely in place, if not a little too securely. She has a few scars scattered over her abdomen. One of which Alicia notices the beginning of next to her belly button that disappears beneath her waistband. Her eyes come up to meet the Corporal's and doesn't miss (nor does it appear that she's trying to hide it) the intrigue in her eyes at the fact that she's been physically catalogued by the Lieutenant (and is by all means receiving positive feedback). The intrigue quickly disappears as soon as the nurse behind her begins whatever treatment the Corporal is in need of.

The younger woman's grip tightens on the edge of the bed and she grits her teeth as her eyes screw shut. Alicia's gaze moves to the nurse behind Reilly and she can't help but frown. The nurse is removing claws- the small ones with bristles- from the _itty bitty shitty sneaky_ little dinos that like to tag along with packs of Slashers and wait for another animal to become incapacitated before converging in 10s and 20s onto the injured creature. They aren't any bigger than mice and their bodies can contort easily. It had been a real pain back in the day before they'd created a naturally occurring repellent. She vaguely recalls seeing the Corporal fall while she'd been aiming at the bigger beasts. The bandage on Corporal Reilly's arm tells her why the little buggers attacked her and Alicia can't help but understand the pain that the younger soldier must be experiencing. Alicia looks back at Laura Reilly's face and silently wishes she could get up and offer some kind of help. Removing the claws is painful to say the least; there are tiny pockets containing some kind of defence mechanism. Makes pain sensors ten times more sensitive.

Laura has her eyes screwed shut and her hands clench the edge of the bed enough to make her knuckles much paler than her dark skin. Uncontrollable tears stain her cheeks and she grimaces when she notices their existence. It's quiet enough for Alicia to hear Laura's quiet exclamations of pain. You can't take anything for the pain; something in the poison immediately induces violent vomiting. It doesn't have any other affect other than the extreme pain sensitivity and the vomiting (_if_ you're dumb enough to take something). The nurse places a cloth over the Corporal's back and smoothes her hand over it, she says something to Laura and she manages a laugh through her grimacing. Her hands slowly relax and she takes a deep breath. Her entire posture relaxes and she brings both hands up to wipe her eyes. Alicia's eyes trail over Laura's toned body and she almost laughs when she realizes (and admits) her strange fascination with how Laura's currently visible muscles contract as she moves. The nurse puts a gel over Laura's back and pats her shoulder lightly before telling her something and walking off.

It's then that Laura's eyes find Alicia's again. The intrigue is back and she allows herself a subtle half smirk as her eyes move over the Lieutenant's body in turn. Alicia can't help but laugh and watches the younger woman catalogue her. If Laura's facial expression is any indicator, Alicia finds herself enjoying the feedback she's getting. She makes eye contact with Laura and a smirk plasters itself on her face. The Corporal's grin is infectious and she can't help but let out another chuckle.

"Lieutenant, Commander Taylor on the line for you." A young soldier walks up to her bed and holds her comm. unit out for her. She notices with a certain degree of mirth that the kid's got his eyes focused on a point well above her.

"You're dismissed Private, have one of the Docs bring me a blanket." She takes the comm. and activates it. The soldier scurries off.

"Lieutenant Washington checking in, sir." She smiles, the slightly aching (but healing) wound on her side doing nothing to dampen her good mood.

"You seem awfully cheerful, Wash." He says, obviously surprised not to hear outright and unhindered annoyance.

"Not a pain med in me; must be the scenery." She offers; omitting that the _scenery_ she's enjoying isn't exactly the plant life.

"There rarely ever are pain meds in you. You're alright?" She has to smile at his worry. Nearly two decades of working together does that to people. She can't say that she doesn't return the worry when their situations are reversed.

"As alright as I can be until tomorrow. Heard your voice in my head telling me to keep my ass in the bed 'til dawn. Corporal Reilly probably got it worse, had a run in with some Roacheraptors. Pleasant times." The pleasant tone she's adopted for the moment doesn't drop when a nurse walks over and drapes a blanket over her. She nods her thanks.

"You're probably right. Those critters are terrible. You need sleep, so I'll leave you to it." His voice is cheerful too and this pleases her.

"Thank you, sir. Goodnight." She turns off her comm. and tosses it on top of her bag one of the soldiers had slid next to her, just before she'd been tended to.

She glances over at Laura Reilly. The younger soldier had received a blanket of her own and had quickly fallen asleep. Alicia smiles once more and is lulled to sleep by the distant sound of running water. She is pleasantly plagued with images of a certain scenery that has her quite refreshed come morning.


	2. Distracted & Distracting

Lieutenant Alicia Washington enjoys being in charge of hand-to-hand combat training. No weapons, no armour; just your body and the instincts you were trained to have. What she enjoys the most is how the younger soldiers keep tabs on how many bouts the other's won, how there are some in the group that everyone wants to show up (whom she and even Commander Taylor at times will show up to give their ego a down grade) She calls them out on their mistakes, shouts pointers and breaks her stoicism to smirk when a boaster ends up on his back. What she notices with a certain amount of intrigue is how the young women in the group (a minority as it has been for longer than a century) rarely boast and often come out on top of the boys.

That is what she is reminded of while Corporal Reilly takes down Mark Reynolds for the fifth time in a row. He's off his game today. He and Reilly's skills are evenly distributed between them; his exceeding in one area, hers exceeding in another, evening out the playing field. It falls to one of two reasons. One, Reilly's been practicing after hours; or two, Mark is distracted.

"Reynolds, do you like being put on your ass?" She calls and he groans as he gets up.

"No, ma'am." He offers, getting back into the proper stance but keeping his attention on the Lieutenant. Laura Reilly is in a similar stance, eyes on the Lieutenant as well.

"Then watch for bluffs and maybe you won't be knocked out." She nods at them to continue and puts her hands on her hips. She watches Laura's moves more than Mark's. She notices the bluffs, the blocks, the clever attacks, the well perceived dodges...The way her hips move. How the muscles in her arms and shoulders contract with each strike. How her chest rises and falls with each breath, and how with each inhalation her dark gray tank top strains ever so subtly against her...

"Reynolds, watch her fist!" She calls out a moment too late as the _infuriatingly distracting_ woman fakes a punch, leaving him unbalanced and in the vulnerable state (perfect state) for her to kick his legs out from under him. A few hoots of encouragement from the peanut gallery have a grin splashed across Laura's face. It's gone in a flash, only remaining in her eyes as she helps Mark up and sends a playful punch to his arm.

"Reilly, with me. Everyone else partner up. Best out of five, winner only has to run the course twice." The Lieutenant grins; the usual for the Obstacle Course is five times and God knows it's muddy as hell. She hears the banter as they pair up and has to smirk through the groans and comments; "Sorry, but I'm winning this." Or "Only twice? The Lieutenant must be in a good mood today." She ignores their comments and eyes her sparring partner.

"Whenever you're ready!" She calls. Some soldiers chuckle and each pair begin their match. Alicia sheds her jacket and tosses it onto a patch of grass; it's where she puts her gun, two knives and comm. unit before stepping up to Laura and easing into a familiar stance. The younger woman focuses but the glint of mirth in her eyes isn't lost. For a moment each takes the other in, eyes identifying the slightest of muscle quirks that give away the first attack. Neither gives anything away. _Appreciating the scenery would be another definition._..Alicia snaps herself to attention and steps forward fast, her fist moves to Laura's tummy. Laura's torso moves to the side without thought, easily dodging the blow and bringing her own down on the Lieutenant. She strikes Alicia's neck and the Lieutenant retaliates with a kick. Laura catches Alicia's leg under her knee and pulls, bringing them closer together and leaving Alicia with only one leg to use. Laura's punch to Alicia's side fails when she intercepts it and locks it under her arm at such an angle that it could break. Alicia uses her free leg to bring them to the ground. Laura's back hits the dirt and the air is the forced out of her lungs. Alicia pins Laura's arms over her head; one of her legs is pinned awkwardly under Laura's and she uses that to flip their position. Alicia growls and manages to twist away. She goes in for another blow but Laura intercepts it and uses that to move—unbelievably fast—under her. Flipping them, and then twisting, so that she has Alicia's back plastered to her front. Laura comes out victorious. One of her legs trapping Alicia's the other half kneeling; she's sitting up on an angle and has the Lieutenant in a choke hold.

"Round 1." She says, honey-like voice assaulting Alicia's mind. She releases the raven-haired solider. Shouts of congratulations burst out from the others and the two women look up to see most of the soldiers had been watching them spar.

"Get back to it or I'll make it three times through the course!" The Lieutenant shouts, standing. Laura follows suit and the two brush the dust from their attire.

"Ready if you are, Lieutenant." Laura Reilly flashes her a grin and settles back into the starting stance.

"Corporal, I'm not going to go easy on you."

By the end of the five matches Alicia has won three and Laura has won two. She offers and hand to the younger soldier and Laura takes it jumping up with her pride intact.

"How about we _both_ run the course three times?" She offers, hand extended, Laura flashes her a grin and shakes her hand. Good compromise, even though the Lieutenant doesn't even have to run the course.

"Sounds good." She manages through her heavy breathing and they walk together to the aforementioned Obstacle Course of muddy doom.

~#~

The files on her Plex usually don't bore her to the extent that her skull feels hollowed out. No, she's usually quite focused on the files and manages to finish before Commander Taylor. At the moment she's distracted. None too pure images flutter through her train of thought while she stares blankly at the screen of her Plex. She's re-appreciating all of the impressive pairs that Laura Reilly possesses...Impressive legs; good runner, quick step, strong swimmer...Impressive arms; great left hook, good climber. Impressive hands; if her technical background is any indicator—which it is—she's good with her hands, good with tools, circuitry, mechanics...Impressive...Distracting breasts...straining ever so slightly against the constraints of her (military design) bra...her hands would be a wonderful substitute for it...Her eyes, emotive, intense; that intense gaze fixed on her. Half lidded eyes coming to a close when her lips meet with the dark skin of her neck; that honey voice would say her name..._Alicia..._

"Alicia." She looks up from her Plex to look at Nathaniel. He has a look of concern on his face, and she quirks a brow at him.

"_Nathaniel_." She replies copying him by using his first name.

"Wash, I tried to get your attention three times." She frowns.

"Sorry, sir. I was distracted." She looks back down at her Plex and grimaces, knowing full well he's still watching her.

"You're telling me. Take off Wash, I'll finish up here." He says, reaching over to take her Plex. She shifts away and looks at him like he's lost his mind.

"Nathaniel, I can finish the file. I won't be distracted again." Her casual use of his first name is by far enough to have him raising his hands in surrender. He gives her a pointed look.

"I insist. You're dismissed." She sighs but doesn't argue and passes him the Plex

.

"Goodnight, sir." She calls back over her shoulder.

"Night, Wash." She takes the steps two at a time, lets her hair down and starts making her way in the direction of her housing unit.

~#~

She walks quickly and quietly through the darkness, taking in the smell of damp air, and tilts her head to better hear the distant sound of something that isn't unlike crickets chirping. As she rounds a corner she slows and a wicked smile comes over her features. Corporal Reilly walks up ahead, most likely just about finished her Nightly Patrol. It takes Alicia a heartbeat of a moment to decide to follow the younger soldier. She takes deliberately silent steps in pursuit of Laura Reilly, her eyes remaining on the reflective glow of the younger woman's armoured jacket.

~#~

Laura Reilly has always been good with her instincts. It doesn't take her long to sense someone following her. Doesn't hear them, doesn't see them; _feels_ their eyes on her. It's too late for a civilian to be out. Patrol is about to end but no one else's route overlaps with hers. She doesn't devise a plan, simply keeps walking. In every sense of the word she _literally_ feels the gaze, of whoever is following her, drop below her belt. She stops at the precise moment she hears a breath of a laugh from the exact her person she'd thought up. She doesn't expect her to walk right into her though.

~#~

Alicia follows slightly too close behind the Corporal. Her eyes haven't left the visible area of Laura's neck and shoulders until this moment when they stray to the Corporal's hips. A breath of a laugh escapes her and she looks away turning her head to the moon. She feels half inclined to scold the younger soldier for not noticing her presence and yet finds that she's scolding herself when she walks right into the woman in question. Something not dissimilar to a gasp escapes Alicia and her hands fly up instinctually to soften the collision, and find themselves pressed against the small amount of space between the Corporal's armoured jack and cargos, where a tiny line of skin is exposed. Laura's back is nearly flush against Alicia's front; she can feel the Lieutenant's breath across her neck.

"I knew you were there." Her voice is low in the darkness. Alicia's hands slip underneath the jacket and press into the warm skin of Laura's lower back. Her quiet but sharp expulsion of breath doesn't go unnoticed.

"I was starting to think you hadn't noticed me." Alicia says, tone informal (almost pleasantly so) and low. Her hands press into Laura's skin a little more.

"Noticing things is important. You need to be perceptive." One of her hands leaves Laura's back at the same time her left hand moves—under the jacket—to Laura's tummy, fingers tracing greedily over the scar she'd noticed when they'd been in the Med Tent five days earlier. Laura barely suppresses the urge to shiver.

"Distractions are also important." Alicia says, her voice becoming very quiet and almost wickedly sexy. Laura gasps when she feels the point of her own knife on the underside of her chin. Just like that the Lieutenant is gone. Having lowered the blade and pushed it against Laura's chest. She catches it before it can fall, watching Alicia Washington's hair flow as she disappears around the next corner. She finishes her patrol in a sort of trance; perfectly aware and perceptive, but with the back of her neck tingling with the ghost of the Lieutenant's lips.


	3. Brachiosaurus' & The First of Many

An invitation to go for drinks after a particularly eventful day is exactly what Alicia Washington is in need of. It doesn't take much to convince her of that fact either. It didn't take much at all because she feels the need for a little de-stressor just as much as the rest of them.

Brachiosaurus' dropping branches over the Gates had every colonist far away from it. Some sort of migration she hadn't really paid attention to while she'd been trying to keep herself from laughing like the rest of the goofs she'd trained with and even trained. They're all good soldiers, not a rotten one amongst any of them, but with the forty foot beasts raining foliage down on them they'd found something funny and had all been incapacitated in contagious fits of laughter. She hadn't been able to keep herself composed as a handful of soldiers danced out of the way of falling branches and had fallen into the laughter as well. She's very grateful that the civilians hadn't been around to see that display, but it's a fond memory she won't soon forget (nor does it seem that Malcolm will let her forget it. He'd had a bout of good humour and managed to take a handful of photos and videos, including some of her during her lapse in composure.).

She's content with the idea of relaxing a bit this evening. She has her hair down, has lost the military get up in favour of a tank top (_the_ signature item in Alicia Washington's wardrobe) and a pair of straight leg jeans, that—if she's being honest with herself (and she is)—make her ass look fantastic and show off her legs. She can't help but smirk when she thinks of the person who may appreciate that. The combat boots remain. It's already evening and the bar is mostly full of soldiers. She slides in at a table with Guzman, Taylor, Malcolm and a few other boys, rolls her eyes at their comments about her clothes and orders a drink from one of the waitresses in tight tops.

It doesn't take long for the conversation to start overflowing with talk about guns, plants, dinosaurs, and battle strategy. Alicia tosses in her two cents in. She's here to relax and the topics in the air are hardly relaxing.

"We have one night off and we're still talking about work." She says taking a sip of her drink. A series of agreements follow. Commander Taylor grins at Wash.

"Well then Lieutenant. Are you seeing anyone?" A series of "ooooos" follows that. Guzman waggles his eye brow at her. She scoffs and swirls her drink around in its glass before punching Guz in the bicep playfully.

"I see you more than I see my own bed, sir. So where would I find the time?" They don't realize her mirth is directed at the fact that she has a picture in her head of exactly whom she would like to be _seeing_. Nathaniel shrugs and sends Alicia another grin.

"Well, I'm not seeing anyone either." She laughs, and the others at the table throw their own comments in. Few dates here and there, a serious relationship, an overdue proposal, one of them is engaged, expecting a baby, happily married...Alicia finds her gaze wandering through the bar. It's crowded tonight, half the force occupying the tables, chairs, and bar. The other half (the half that had been attending to the civilians well away from the Gates) gets the night off tomorrow. Her eyes fall onto none other than _the_ Laura Reilly who is occupying a table five away from Alicia's. She's smiling at something Mark's said and laughing along with the others in her group.

Alicia has seen her out of her uniform before, but in this instant can't help but admire the change in perspective. The younger woman is similar to Alicia in the way in which she dresses down. Tight grey blue top with a low rise collar that permits _quite_ a view. Her attire below that is unknown. It takes Laura a moment to feel the Lieutenant's gaze on her, and when she does she rolls her shoulders as if she's stretching and brings she elbows together on the table, deviously bringing her _distracting_ and impressive breasts together even more. Alicia feigns choking and looks away to hide the flush on her cheeks and the grin on her face. When she looks back up Laura is sending her a devious half smile. Alicia takes a good swig of her drink (her third) and lets out a sharp breath. She looks at Laura intently, and receives the same gaze in return. Alicia declares her intentions with her gaze—dropping to Laura's chest and returning to her face—the less than saintly things that have passed through her thoughts since their exchange in the Med Tent. Alicia isn't disappointed either when she sees something much the same in the younger woman's gaze.

"Lieutenant Washington is eye fucking someone." This has her tearing her gaze away from Laura and glowering at one of the soldiers at their table. He'd said it to Guzman who in turn flashes Alicia a devilish grin.

"I wasn't." She denies, though the ones who'd picked up on the conversation quiet down and lean in to snoop can all tell she's lying.

"She was! It was intense." The soldier in question yelps when Alicia kicks him under the table and glares at him.

"Sorry, Lieutenant." Her nod is the perfect display of "_Damn right you're sorry."_ She looks around the table, glaring at each of the men with stupid grins on their faces.

"This brings us back to our earlier topic. You _sure_ you aren't seeing anyone, Wash?" Taylor has a humoured smile on his face. She rolls her eyes.

"You are all terrible, terrible people. No, I _am not_ seeing anyone. Smith needs an eye exam." She sends a more playful glare at the younger man and he pouts then grins.

"Whoever she was looking at was over there." He says pointing in the general direction of Laura's table. Alicia scowls.

"You _will_ pay for that, Soldier." She says. He raises his arms in surrender.

"I have no doubt about that, Lieutenant." She just shakes her head and notices that a few of the men at the table are looking around blindly for whomever her stare mate might be. They give up quickly and return to their drinks and earlier conversations. Alicia chances a glance at Laura's table and mirrors the younger woman's triumphant smirk. Laura glances around her table quickly and sneaks in a wink at the Lieutenant. Alicia barely manages to inhale her laughter. She finishes her drink, leans back in her chair and catches the attention of one of the waitresses—Tanya—whom bends down to hear what the Lieutenant has to ask.

"Another of these and one for Corporal Reilly over there." She says lowly, none of the men at her table take any notice.

"Coming right up, Lieutenant." She smiles cheerily and walks off swaying her hips just a bit too much for Alicia's liking.

When she gets her drink she doesn't take a swig right away. She swirls it around in her glass until she sees Miss Tanya tap Laura on the shoulder and give her her drink, whispering close to her ear from exactly whom she is receiving it. Laura thanks the waitress and flashes a grin in Alicia's direction. Someone at her table asks her whom gave it to her and she shrugs, giving a half thought up explanation of who it _could_ be, but not giving away who it is. When she's done she looks at Alicia and raises her glass a bit before leaning back a little in her and taking a long swig. Alicia does the same.

Alicia Washington can easily drink each of the men here under the table and still walk away with her balance intact. She stops after her fourth drink and enjoys the faint buzz she has. She listens idly to the conversation, nods her agreement, smiles at the mentioned memories, and corrects in turn when Taylor or Guzman gets a fact wrong about some trip OTG. She lets her gaze wander to Laura and is pleased to see that Laura is getting up to leave. Alicia takes this moment to extract herself from the table, half-seriously apologizing—"_it's getting late I need to sleep off this alcohol"_—and wishing everyone a good night.

She's just finished shoving her chair in with her hip when Laura disappears out the door of the bar. She manages to keep herself composed until the top of the steps which she takes two at a time. She spots Laura walking towards her shared housing unit only a few yards ahead of her. She quickens her pace.

"Reilly." She addresses the Corporal with a nod, tone completely subordinate.

"With me." Her smirk gives away her intentions and she motions with a slight nod of her head for Laura to follow her. The ever so obedient soldier does not disappoint, following a few paces behind the Lieutenant. Alicia leads them through the cobblestone streets with deliberate steps, getting further from the housing units and closer to the storage buildings. They round a corner. Dark, quiet. Alicia stops and pulls Laura none-too gently by the shoulders and melds their lips together. Laura ends up with her back against the wall of a storage building, hands coming up to fist in the Lieutenants hair, mouth opening—more than willing to deepen the kiss. She groans as Alicia's hands slide up her torso, and stop right below where she's been wanting her for ages. Alicia grins, knowing full well what she's not touching, exactly what contact she's depriving the woman of; depriving _herself_ of. Laura growls, leaning into Alicia to better close the distance between them. Alicia allows her that much and presses flush up against her, right hand trailing down and under Laura's top to play with the scar she's become morbidly fascinated with. Laura hums, grinning before they part, eyes dark, breathing hard. In sync, Alicia steps back, Laura follows, peeling away from the metal wall of the building. Still close together, Laura gives the Lieutenant a half smirk, eyes full of desire.

"One doesn't simply give a kiss like that and get away scot free, Alicia." Her honey tone has Alicia's eyes darkening even more.

"I don't _intend_ to get away 'scot free', _Laura._" She has her own devious smirk on and brings a hand up to the back of Laura's neck to bring her in for another kiss. They both groan at the contact, and Alicia tightens her hold on Laura's neck for a moment before letting her hand drop. Laura is the one to step back. She straightens her back, squaring her shoulders, but the smirk doesn't leave her face.

"Good night, Lieutenant." She says; that voice like honey makes it a real effort for Alicia _not_ to take Laura's mouth again. She just adjusts her posture as well, her own unprofessional expression not leaving her face.

"Sleep well, Corporal." She takes her time saying Laura's rank and doesn't miss the extra air she pulls in in response. At that they part. Minds rolling over various unholy thoughts that render them near incapable of keeping their faces blank as they walk to their separate housing units.


	4. Interrupted & Hot'n'Bothered

Laura Reilly is very much capable of hiding her mirth. She finds this to be a talent that she possesses. It comes in handy when things are amusing that shouldn't be; situations in which she would be reprimanded if she were to break her stoicism. She doesn't consider this moment to be one of those situations, nor does she feel like chancing her 'consideration' by showing just how much watching Lieutenant Washington rant and rave is amusing her. The reason behind Alicia's anger is funny. The ranting and raving on the other hand is much the opposite; to the extent that Laura had ushered the Lieutenant away from the young scientist to avoid Alicia's wrath on him (he'd pissed her off _that_ badly).

This is how they ended up in the garage of the empty storage building a click and a half away from outpost 9. The building is secure from any wildlife, and large enough to house their small excursion team for the remaining three (probably more after the stunt that scientist had pulled) days. Afternoon light shines in from large windows above the garage doors illuminating the large echoing room with stripes of orange sunlight. Alicia's heavy footfalls echo through the room loudly, but the speech she's giving—to mostly herself—is louder and the rest of the team outside the far back door can probably hear it.

"Three rovers! You're a scientist, USE YOUR HEAD! Moving it! Can't just ASK one of the DESIGNATED DRIVERS to do it? No! And NOW all THREE of our rovers are in the midst of being defiled by HORNY DINOSAURS!"

The situation is funny. Her anger isn't. Alicia had dropped her gun in the corner and started pacing, venting. All much healthier than landing the blows Laura knows the Lieutenant wanted to rain down on the scientist. Laura drops her gun a little ways away from Alicia's and stands in the stripes of light, well away from the pacing. She decides to let her mirth show through and her lip quirks in her signature half-smirk. There are five horny dinosaurs defiling the rovers. The scientist had decided to move each one a little to the left to have more room for his gear, and didn't realize he left the breaks off. All three rovers rolled down the hill into a field full of bright pink and orange flowers. The pollen, as it turns out, is some kind of aphrodisiac that attracts dinosaurs.

"What is so funny, Corporal?" She loses the smirk and focuses her gaze on Alicia.

"Permission to speak as Laura, Lieutenant." Alicia's jaw tightens for a moment but then she nods. Laura's entire posture changes and she leans her weight on her left foot, crosses her arms in front of her chest and the mirth returns.

"There are five dinosaurs trying to fuck our rovers. What Stiles did was dumb, but the outcome is pretty damn funny." She doesn't get the chance to say more before Alicia pulls her into a heated kiss.

"Fuck." She growls intrigued by the word, initiating right off the bat, deep open mouthed kisses that Laura responds to immediately. Alicia's hands find Laura's tight curls and bury her fingers in the tresses, keeping the younger woman close. Laura groans bringing her hands up to Alicia's face.

"Shouldn't do this here." Laura says and Alicia makes a disapproving noise. She breaks the kiss with a near snarl and shoves Laura against the wall.

"Shut up, just shut up." _You know you want this just as badly. _She says her voice rising an octave before pulling the younger soldier into a smouldering kiss and unzipping her armoured jacket. It falls off her shoulders and to the floor with a _thunk_. Laura hums and switches their positions pinning Alicia to the wall and unzipping _her_ armoured jacket in turn. It falls the floor with a sound not dissimilar to the first. Alicia pulls Laura closer to her by her waistband, unbuttoning it quickly. Laura takes Alicia's hands and pins them beside her, earning her a groan of protest. Laura lets one of Alicia's hands relocate to her hair when she unbuttons the Lieutenant's cargos and slips her hand in. Alicia's moan is more than enough to spur her on and she slides her palm through Alicia's folds. Her chest rises and falls in shudders when the Corporal's thumb finds her bundle of nerves and presses down on it.

"God...Laura." Alicia grinds out, her hips jerking to meet Laura's hand.

Their lip lock muffles their yelps of surprise when the garage door at the far end of the room starts to open. In a heartbeat Laura has Alicia pinned to the wall opposite the one they'd been against a moment earlier safely hidden behind a large air duct tube. Alicia tries to steady her breathing, Laura steals another kiss, long enough to have Alicia cupping her face, and have both of their fatigues fixed. Laura puts her back against the wall and the two soldiers watch hands idling over their side-arms. Two young people; a man and a girl step into the garage. Sixers. Young; late teens for the girl, early twenties for the boy. The girl has a tight French Braid down her back and the boy's sandy blond hair is shaggy and messy. The boy leans down and kisses the girl and Laura quirks her lips when she hears Alicia's near inaudible growl.

"Peter, are you _sure_ no one will notice that we're gone?" The girl asks as they step closer (still in an embrace) to where Alicia and Laura are hidden. The boy—Peter—smiles at the girl.

"Yes I'm positive; I've come here a lot, to think." He says kissing the girl sweetly. Alicia scowls at the display, thoroughly displeased at being interrupted. Laura smirks, triumphant that she'd made the Lieutenant hot and bothered.

"_I remember him."_ Laura mouths to Alicia and she nods, finding a vague memory of a blond gangly teenager who liked to make bread with his mother. The soldiers unholster their side-arms and exchange a look as the couple gets closer. The couple remains in the stripes of light and Alicia's nod has both women emerging, guns raised and charging to stun. The girl lets out a yelp and without thinking, blocks the boy so neither woman has a clear shot.

"Katherine get behind me." He says pushing her behind him half way. They raise their hands, they are unarmed.

"You need to leave." Alicia says, tone fully returned to Lieutenant Mode.

"We didn't mean anything." Peter says, putting on a bravado in front of the girl.

"I heard that you two are sneaking out of Mira's camp. I won't take you in if you leave right now." Alicia motions with her gun to the open garage door, and cocks an eyebrow at them.

"Go-oh." She says in a sing song voice, motioning with her hand. Laura resists the urge to snicker. The kids exchange glances and bolt faster than the ancient turkey dinos Malcolm had discovered his third month in Terra Nova.

"Close the door behind you." Alicia adds resisting the urge to laugh herself until the garage door is closed all the way. She and Laura glance at each other and burst into laughter. They holster their weapons and Alicia—in good humour—plants a kiss on the Corporal's mouth. Both women hum, and Alicia pulls away and walks over to where they'd dropped their weapons and jackets.

"Next time. No interruptions." The words may not hold much detail but they sure as hell hold promise. Laura nods and accepts her jacket and rifle from Alicia. They walk back to the group (Alicia's anger is forgotten and she even makes a joke about the defiled rovers as they stalk over to the other soldiers) and tells them they'll need to implement a 24 hour surveillance. Lieutenant Washington explains her and Corporal Reilly's little encounter with the Sixer Lovers (minus the part where they were _almost _fucking.) and that the surveillance was only precautionary. Two soldiers are immediately sent to Outpost 9 on a Motor Bike to notify Commander Taylor of the situation.

It's later that evening, during dinner around a campfire that Alicia realizes to exactly what level of "hot and bothered" Laura's put her at. A few of the soldiers are picking at their food and enjoying their few minutes of rest before the night time surveillance team has to start patrolling. Alicia nibbles at her fish absently, entirely too caught up in undressing Corporal Reilly with her eyes. It takes her a minute to realize what Laura's doing. The younger soldier is inattentively sucking her fingers clean of the sauce coating the fish while she listens to whatever it is that Curran is saying. Alicia suppresses the urge to shiver when she sees that it's the same hand that had been in her pants earlier. The same heat that had been in her gut for most of the afternoon spikes up. She ends up choking on her fish, but is saved from having to explain as the soldiers in their group erupt with laughter. She thanks whatever deity above them that the group's laughter had coincided with her choking. She gets up and chucks her plate in the wash bin and stretches. She groans near inaudibly and admits silently to herself that these next five days are going to be utter hell. She can't simply sneak off and take care of herself, not while she's in charge. She sighs and turns to start her patrol when Corporal Reilly blocks her way as she tosses her plate in the wash bin. She smiles politely.

"I don't think we'll be able to fix our problem as soon as we'd hoped, Lieutenant." She says, Alicia doesn't miss the flash in the younger woman's eyes that indicates exactly which problem she's talking about. It isn't the horny dinosaur problem.

"It looks like that's the case. Doesn't look like a problem I can fix solo either." Laura's pupils dilate as Alicia speaks.

"You're certainly not making it any easier." She mutters, voice lower than before, but the mischievous look in her eyes doesn't fade. She nods to the Lieutenant and starts to make her way into the building to sleep (there are two patrol shifts tonight).

"But that's definitely something I want to see." She says as she parts. Alicia masks her groan with a quick throat clearing and turns to watch Laura go inside.

Definitely going to be a hell of a five days.

~#~

**I'd really love it if you'd review, it means so much. Thanks. **


	5. Partnered Up & Where to Go From Here

Laura Reilly judges her outfit in the full length mirror in her room. She's being honest when she thinks it isn't very imaginative. There are plenty of colourful clothes in Terra Nova, but she's managed to rack up about the same colours as all the other female soldiers; blue, greens, a few wine reds, and lots of grey. She's sporting a long light blue tank top and grey straight-leg jeans. Her shoes, she very much takes pride in; one of three classic pairs of Converse All Start running shoes; she's chosen the navy blue ankle pair. She lets her hair do what it wants, which means all her cork screw curls are falling around her face nicely. She doesn't own makeup. She sighs when she feels his presence behind her.

"Tim, go away." She says, but he stays silent and moves up behind her. She sighs again; he keeps doing _this. _ He pushes, tries to get under her skin, and into her bed again. She's let him too many times before; now she's uninterested. He places his hands on her hips as he stands with his chest to her back; despite the annoyance she enjoys idly imagining Alicia's hands on her in his place.

"You look really nice." He says, his pitiful tone reaching her ears. She changes the voice, makes it the sexy tones of the stoic Lieutenant speaking huskily in her ear. It's all him when he presses a tentative kiss to her neck, just below her ear. The five-o'clock shadow scratching against her neck as he gets a little bolder. She sighs again, because she's about to push him away from her, because this does nothing for her; doesn't evoke anymore shocks of desire within her. She remembers the lust she had for him, but it doesn't compare to the ache she has in her gut when thinks of how she and Lieutenant Washington have yet to fix their _problem._ She pushes him back.

"I said, go away, Tim." She says turning to face him. He ignores her, attempts what had fully worked in the past but only served to spike irritation. He melds their mouth together and she very nearly growls (steels it down to a groan he misinterprets) bringing a hand up to his chest to shove him off but he holds steady. She opens her mouth for him and smirks internally when she feels that egotistic shift in his demeanour once he thinks he's won her over. She brings her teeth down over his bottom lip hard. Her jerks away from her with a primitive yelp. She smirks when she sees that she's drawn blood and stalks out of her room.

"Get out of my room, Curran." She calls and hears him curse.

It's the night of the Harvest Festival and Alicia Washington stands on the balcony of the Command Center watching the festivities. Nathaniel is beside her with a content smile on his face. The music playing was popular in the 1990s and early 2000s and neither can say that it's bad. Alicia has taken great measures not to look for Laura Reilly in the crowd, but finds herself doing so anyway. The woman in question is dancing with Boylan and laughing. She remembers that it was he who recommended her in the first place; old family connections. She looks good. Alicia isn't shamed by the less-than-holy thoughts running through her head as she watches the younger soldier sway to the music, doesn't regret undressing her with her eyes. She does however regret getting consumed in the process. Again.

"Wash, I really don't believe you when you say you aren't seeing anyone." Nathaniel comments, breaking Alicia's mental undressing of the Corporal. She'd been about to unbutton those glorious jeans...

"You know I'd never lie to you, sir." She says, meeting his gaze. He smiles at her and looks back at the crowd. The song changes and so does Laura's dance partner. Tim Curran. Whom appears to be _trying_ to convince her to dance with him.

"Promise me something, Wash?" She meets his gaze again and nods for him to go on.

"When you get with whomever you're mentally undressing, will you let me know?" Her face is the perfect representation of surprise; eyes wide, mouth in an o shape. She levels an accusatory glare at him.

"I don't know." She settles on. She hates that he can read her so well. He moves to her other side and grabs her arm before heading down the stairs.

"What are you doing?" She asks, and lets out a laugh at his mischievous expression.

"Come and dance with me, Wash." She rolls her eyes but follows him into the crowd of people anyway.

She goes through quite a handful of dance partners; Nathaniel had let her dance with Malcolm after four dances in which they talked about lighting for the next year's festivals. With Malcolm even over the louder music, they'd spoken about the possibility of another science excursion, which she'd denied until further notice. She danced with four-year old Henry Wotton who was very gentlemanly throughout the entirety, and then with seven-year old Hannah Langdon, and even eighteen-month old Alisha Styles (named for her) who was laughing so much during the upbeat and playful song she ended up red in the face with a terrible case of hiccups. After that it was two men and a woman she didn't really know, all of whom were either dared to ask her or almost shaking in their boots. She danced with Guzman, who teased her the entire time as to which of the three previous dance partners she'd had she was sleeping with—he'd earned a punch to the arm for that one—and then ran off to his wife, leaving her with another upbeat and silly song, to which she started dancing with one of Boylan's waitresses, just for the fun of it.

After grabbing a well needed drink she made her way through the crowd of people in search of Laura. Her light blue top made that easier. Alicia spotted her a little off to the side with Tim Curran again. His expression is serious as he speaks with a hold on her wrist. Her jaw is set firmly, arm tense; she interrupts him. As she walks over she hears the broken tail end of their conversation.

"—blew it last time—left me alone in your—didn't even apologize—so stop pushing!" Laura looks visibly relieved when she sees Alicia and offers her a smile.

"Lieutenant, how's your evening going?" Laura asks, freeing her arm from Curran's hold.

"Very well, I've had some great dance partners. If I'm not interrupting...Care to dance, Corporal?" Laura nods and flashes Curran a look.

"You're not interrupting anything at all. And I'd love to dance." She falls into step with Alicia and they walk into the crowd and pick a spot. The song is upbeat and they get into it a little; hips swaying, head bobbing to the beat, it's something neither of them can do often and they revel in it. Laura couldn't enjoy watching Alicia dance more than now. What she has on isn't much different than what she wore to the bar after the Brachiosaurus event; the combat boots always remain as do her tags (Laura always keeps hers on as well). She makes eye contact with Alicia and grins at her, conveying everything that's going through her mind to the older woman. Alicia smirks and circles her arms around Laura's waist when the song changes, Laura does the same. The song is still upbeat but definitely the type where couples are dancing together. Alicia ducks her head and speaks into Laura's ear over the music.

"You look really good." Laura hums her appreciation, noting that her compliment is pretty much the same as Tim's. She finds her imagination doesn't do Alicia's voice any justice at all. She loves it.

"I can say the same for you." She replies smiling at the subtle dilation of Alicia's pupils. The song ends and Cameryn Clark taps Alicia on the shoulder. Alicia sends Laura a look full of promise and smiles at the other soldier.

"Mind if I borrow Corporal Reilly for a dance, Lieutenant?" Alicia laughs, and steps back, the look in her eyes telling Laura that she'd much rather be keeping her hands on her.

"Not at all Corporal. Enjoy yourself, Reilly." She takes her leave and walks over to the refreshments table. She picks up a drink and watches Laura dancing with some friends; the woman is purposefully moving her hips just a tab more than she ought to be, it's enticingly wonderful for the imagination...

It doesn't take long for someone to take the lovely Cameryn Clark from Laura's company and that's when she makes her way over to the refreshments table as well. She knows full well she's been letting herself get into the music, letting her hips rock to the beat. After she's grabbed a drink she sidles up next to the Lieutenant and smirks. Her underlying desire is hidden well.

"Quite the choice of songs being played don't you think?" She raises a brow at Laura who nods while taking a sip from her cup.

"I remember Boylan showing me a few of them when I was fourteen or fifteen." Neutral answer. It earns her an eye roll.

"Did you like the songs, Lieutenant?" She asks; _did you like my dancing, Alicia?_

"They were great." _I'd like to tear your clothes off now._ The music is suddenly very slow and Alicia downs the remainder of her drink in one go.

"Dance with me, Corporal." Laura downs the remaining liquid in her cup and follows Alicia. They settle into a similar stance to the one earlier and sway to the slow dance. All the dancers have paired up, elderly and children alike, friends, girls, boys, men, women, just enjoying the striking contrast in speed. Alicia leans close to Laura's ear again.

"After this song I'm going to the Eye. Wait another song then come and join me." Laura takes a deep breath.

"Yes, ma'am." She laughs when Alicia dips her dramatically. Alicia wraps her arms around Laura's neck, while Laura's remain on her hips, a decent amount of space between them.

"You think about what happened at the Storage Building?" It's less of a question more of a tease.

"Makes me think of what I'd like to do to you." They step in time to the music smiling with the other pairs. Alicia suppresses a shiver.

"What would that be?" Her tone is significantly more husky than a moment earlier. It takes everything in Laura's power not to let her eyes flutter.

"Take you against the wall. Feel you writing against me. Moaning my name." She's making herself dizzy with the thought and laughs at Alicia's heavy expulsion of breath, the Lieutenant will never tire of the woman's honey coated tone.

"Just like in the Storage Building. You'd be all riled up." It's right then that the song ends and Commander Taylor graciously requests the Lieutenant for a dance. Neither deny him that and he leads her a little ways away. Mark, always a gentleman asks for a dance and she can't help but oblige him with a smile. Neither of them however is paying much attention to their dance partners. Their eyes are locked on the other's each time they can glance behind their partner's shoulder. Looks that contain nothing but pure promise that the night will hold very satisfying events. When the song ends Alicia slips away from Nathaniel and easily makes in through the door into the Eye undetected. Laura decides to get another drink, and Tanya, one of Boylan's waitresses walks over to her.

"Hi Laura, how's your night going?" Her outfit is bold; strapless green dress that falls down to just a little shy of appropriate over her knees with black. She smiles at the blonde and sips her drink before responding.

"Good, I'm really enjoying this year's festival. How's your night going?" Tanya grins deviously and steps a little closer to Laura before speaking quietly to her.

"I bet you are enjoying yourself. Danced with the Lieutenant..." Laura raises her brow incredulously at her.

"Oh, I noticed. You really got into your slow dance. I don't blame you either." Laura is about to respond when she sees Curran walking toward her. She must have grimaced because Tanya steps in front of her and smiles brightly at him.

"Tim Curran, you clean up well. Dance with me." Laura smiles at her 'not taking no for an answer' attitude and as pulls him toward the dance floor.

"Have a nice night, Laura." She calls over her shoulder. Laura finishes her drink and slips into the shadows of the Command Center before quickly ducking through the door to the Eye. She rolls her bottom lips between her teeth as she comes to the heavy door.

The room is dim, the only light is the blue glow from the Eye. Alicia appears at the door with a sly smile on her face and grabs Laura's face melding their mouths together. Laura hums with delight wrapping her arms around her neck and steps further into the room. Alicia turns slightly and pulls the heavy door shut behind them without breaking the kiss. Alicia's hands find their way to the younger woman's hips and tug them closer against hers; Laura's fingers tangle in the other woman's hair and she opens her mouth to her. They're a battle of tongues, teeth and lips before Laura has a rather flushed Lieutenant against the warm glass framing the Eye. Laura's lips trail over Alicia's jaw and down her neck; when they find a particularly sensitive spot it has Alicia biting back a moan and fisting her hands in the Corporal's tight cork-screw curls. Laura chuckle's and grinds her hips against Alicia's, eliciting a moan from the stoic woman. Her hands trail up Alicia's tank top and cup her breasts through her bra. The hold in her hair tightens and Alicia growls grinding out something along the lines of—

"—your mouth, now." Before pulling Laura back into a heated kiss. One of Laura's hands snakes down Alicia's side, squeezing as she goes, making her writhe over her. She has her hand half way into Alicia's pants when her breathy voice is in her ear.

"Fuck me, like you would have in the storage building, Corporal." Laura grins and kisses her head back against the glass before slipping her hand over Alicia's heat. The woman is question hums opening her mouth in a silent moan as the Corporal's fingers slide through her wet folds. She gasps when Laura slips two fingers into her and presses down on her clit with her thumb and circles it relentlessly. Her gasp draws into a loud moan and Alicia's head tilts back against the glass and her hips thrust inadvertently to meet Laura's ministrations. Laura's mouth finds purchase over Alicia's pulse and suck earning her and choked moan and a shudder. The woman in action hums contentedly as she makes her ever-stoic Lieutenant more vocal by the moment. Without Laura pinning her to the fall she's certain she'll fall. Laura curls her fingers inside Alicia and brings their mouths together to swallow her scream of pleasure when she's thrown over the edge. Alicia grins as she catches her breath and kisses the smirk right off of Laura's lips.

"Damn—" She breaths hand deftly finding its way into the Corporal's pants. "—you're so _wet_." She husks, and Laura groans bringing the hand previously giving the Lieutenant pleasure palm up against the glass to brace herself while leaning into Alicia more.

"Did _I_ make you this wet, Corporal?" She asks lips barely touching Laura's. She teases her fingers over Laura's clit, making the woman's already flushed cheeks flood with colour.

"Yes, ma'am." She replies, honey tone assaulting the Lieutenant's senses. The woman in question hums locking their lips and pinching the younger woman's bundle of nerves. Laura's hips thrust into Alicia's hand as she gasps, her left hand tangling into the Lieutenant's hair keeping their mouths locked as she begins her pleasuring assault on the feisty Corporal. Alicia finds the younger woman's moans and whimpers enthralling and it drives her, she slips two fingers into Laura and revels in the drawn out moan she gets before Laura drops her forehead to Alicia's shoulder.

"God...Don't stop." Laura moans hips grinding into Alicia's hand. Alicia uses Laura's move and curls her fingers inside her, thumb pressing down hard on her clit. Laura's body goes taut and she lets out a wholly satisfying scream as she comes. She slips her hand out of Laura's pants and slips down the wall taking Laura with until their more or less sitting propped up against the glass. Laura has Alicia's lap straddled.

"Please tell me we're doing that again." Alicia mirrors Laura's grin and nods, kissing the younger woman's lips soundly.

"Yes, and on a bed." She says into the kiss.

"You're good. I'm still debating whether or not I can walk." Laura says when Alicia's lips trail down to her neck and suck at her pulse.

"I can say the same for you." Alicia replies grinning when Laura groans from her ministrations. She pulls back and the two disentangle themselves from the other. They both manage to stand and fix their apparel with little problems. Alicia levels a devious look at Laura.

"Go back into the party and watch the fireworks. I'll steal you away after wards and we can make out near the storage containers." Alicia quirks a brow at Laura who grins.

"I like the sound of that." Laura leans in and captures the Lieutenant's mouth again.

"So do I." Alicia admits when they finally part. Laura walks to the heavy door, and looks back at Alicia. She smirks, having caught her enjoying the none-too-subtle sway of her hips as she moved.

"Come up in five minutes, wouldn't want you to miss the show." Laura says as she slips out sending Alicia a wink before she disappears. Alicia smiles and stretches, enjoying the after-sex hum in her limbs. She runs a hand through her hair and chuckles to herself. Playing out what exactly could happen after the fireworks show.

After five minutes she exits the Eye and makes it just in time to see the brilliant red and blue explosions in the starry sky. She glances around the crowd until her eyes land on Laura. She's standing with Mark and Corporal Swan watching the light show. Alicia makes her way to Nathaniel's side and smiles at him before returning her attention to the sky. The here and now is where she's content, and for the moment she is only thinking about the immediate future; more than looking forward to what it might hold.


	6. Things To Do More Often

For the most, part Laura Reilly's day had been going well. The morning patrol had gone smoothly with no perimeter breaches from dinosaurs or other creatures; she'd had enough time to grab a fruit at a stand before heading to sparring practice. That had also gone well; she had knocked Mark on his ass four out of the five times; and then had come out on top half the time with her other partners. A little sweaty but still pleasantly humming from the sparring, she'd made her way to her third trial of combat training for young recruits.

With Guzman as supervisor, she, Clark and Reynolds have taken up training the (handpicked and to-be-polished) future soldiers of Terra Nova; their unit (class of gangly teenagers...Mark could almost pass for one of them if it weren't for his comparable bulk) is ten kids; seven boys and three girls, the youngest of which is fourteen (the junior of the others by two years) and here by special recommendation. Mariah States already six feet tall and an avid runner; her father had requested she be brought into pre-training to quench her restlessness before officially applying. They were very likely to be accepted into Full Training in eight months from now and were undergoing basic combat training—among other things. Laura drops her gym bag onto the bench and steps over to Mark. She grins at him when she sees that he's nursing his sore jaw. She smirks, and pats his shoulder.

"Sorry, Reynolds, but you'd gotten me with that elbow to the gut..." He scoffs at her and nods his greeting to Cameryn and Guzman when they walk up. They face their class. Unlike where Laura and Mark had been fifteen minutes earlier—dry dirt as a mat—this arena had custom flooring; water proof, but padded enough to lessen bruising and impact (albeit subtly). The kids all looked a little nervous despite it being their third class.

"We're going to go into upper body attacks and blocks today." Cameryn Clark steps forward and addresses them; using her hands to point out which areas of the body she's talking about. She nods for Laura to step forward. She does and the two stand facing each other while Clark's attention remains on the group.

"You're all fast learners, so this will be pretty easy. What you need to remember is keeping your distance. You want to be able to get in, and get out. Corporal Reilly and I will demonstrate the first moves." With Clark now facing her they fall into a sparring stance and circle one another; observing the other's intentions. Laura moves in first, her fist flying out at the other woman, only to be evaded with nothing more than a soft parry and quick move to the side. Reilly moves back out of Clark's range just as she's about to counter attack but the other woman becomes relentless and moves in hot. Fists and elbows fly at the Corporal. She is helpless but to move back, to the side, duck her head. Distance, keep the distance. When Clark just starts to relent and Reilly takes the opportunity to come in with a barrage of fists of her own. They're countered and blocked, of course, but one manages to land perfectly in Cameryn's sternum. Holding up her hands to signify the end of the demonstration, Reilly backs down graciously and turns to the class to address them.

"You all know how to punch and kick; we went over that day one. There needs to be lots of arm action today, but don't forget what you learned last class; footing and weight advantages. Pair up and get started. We'll be coming around to give pointers." Reilly nods at them and they disperse. Kate Partridge with David Lee, Henry Maple with Annabelle Cook, Mariah States with Ashton Miles, Matthew Park with Andrew Louis, Patrick Gray with Neil Dempsey. They all fall into a good stance and begin. Laura, Clark, Reynolds and Guzman all find themselves going to various duos and giving pointers.

"Cook, distance; an enemy or even a dinosaur won't stay out of your personal space, get used to it." Mark watches the pair for a few minutes before moving on.

"States don't forget your footing, quick feet. Get in and out. Don't linger. Miles, easy with that arm, you're trying to hit her, not bash her face in." Clark says flashing the pair a grin; they hardly notice the good spirited side to the advice, and follow it to the letter.

"Partridge, good blocking now counter attack when he's this close to you. Lee, ease up with your attacks, you're going to tire yourself out." Reilly sees the adjustment and turns to observe the others.

On day one the kids had been told a safe word—chuckles had run through the group and even a few eye rolls—to burn into their skulls to say if they needed to stop the spar. Along the same lines of tapping, but several stages before one of them would be in a choke hold and need to tap.

"Damn it, Lee, I said 'arrow'!" Kate Partridge hollers, blocking his punch and jamming her knee into his groin. He grunts in pain but doesn't stop; instead sends a wicked punch her way that has her stumbling and spitting blood. He's about to send another attack when Laura blocks his way with a hand to his shoulder.

"That's enough, Fresh. You heard her say it." The boy stands down. Laura doesn't notice his constricted pupils. Kate sends a nasty glare at David but he doesn't pay attention. All the other kids have stopped to watch the exchange. To this point no one has disregarded the safe word. Guz, Clark and Reynolds exchange looks and Laura nods.

"Since we've all stopped it only seems appropriate to move on. Each of us—" Laura motions between herself and her fellow soldiers, "—will pair up with one of you and the rest will continue. New partners. Let's go."

"Mariah with me." Clark calls motioning for the girl to come over.

"Dempsey." Guzman calls and the kid gets a pat on the shoulder from his friend.

"Come on, Cook." Mark, always the softy, sends the girl a reassuring smile as she walks over to him.

"Lee, let's go." Laura decides, patting the kids shoulder before moving out of the other kids' ways.

"Alright the rest of you pair up." Guz calls and they do without hesitation. Laura stops about two yards away from Dempsey and Guzman and nods at David Lee. He falls back into the proper stance and she the same; calculating his potential movements. When he charges it takes her off guard; half a second and she would have been hit by a powerful punch. She ducks and lands a blow to his side. He turns quickly, sweeps his leg out to catch hers and moves in for a shove. She avoids the trip and twists out of the way of the shove, only to end up with his fist to her ribs, and his knee just under her hip. The kid's fast. She takes a swing and gets him in the jaw. It propels him back but he'd gotten a hold on her right elbow. She goes with him. He kicks her in the shins and she bites back a hiss of pain, snaking her throbbing leg around his and giving a good yank. As they fall he lands another punch to her ribs and she ends up on her back. He's kneeling over her torso with a knee on either side of her, he gets a good punch in to her side and this time she does let out a grunt of pain.

She feigns a right handed blow to his gut and lands a kidney punch with her left. That has him doubling over, and incapacitated enough for her to shove him to the side. She's about to put her knee over his chest and tell him to relax when he shocks her by pulling her right over, summersault style. She lands with a harsh expulsion of breath and he's on her again. She rolls them, lands a few punches and he the same. She lets out a yelp when they roll into the slight ditch next to the fence. It's covered in spiny undergrowth, sharp, the kind of plants Malcolm uses the blade like thorns as make-shift scalpels.

"That's enough, Junior Private!" She exclaims, blocking a punch aimed at her face. She lands a few blows to his torso, while taking some herself.

"At ease!" She shouts not wanting to harm the kid. She lets out another yelp when the sharp plants dig into her skin. She brings her feet up, as if she were going to roll into a ball and kicks his chest sending him back a good four feet. Mark and Dempsey (having witnessed the display) have David pinned to the ground.

"Dammit, I said that's enough!" She grounds out storming over to where the kid is still struggling against his friend and teacher.

"Calm yourself down, Dave, you're through." Neil says, visible worry on his face. Laura spits blood and winces at the cuts that are leaking blood down her arms, shoulders, cheek and sides—through her torn tank top.

"Ma'am, I think I know what the problem may be." Andrew Louis walks up with Corporal Clark, the other kids hang back; a few holding looks of horror at the blood running down Corporal Reilly's arms.

"Speak up, Louis. I want to know why he's still fighting." Guzman says, looks to the kid and nods.

"He was real nervous. Took some of the berries that calm you, I'm not positive though." He glances down at his friend who only now is beginning to calm.

"Alright, go get a doctor, tell them to run an analysis on those berries." Clark orders and Louis jogs off.

"We can't have kids taking anything before lessons. I thought we'd made it clear day one that they wouldn't be graded for the next three weeks. Nothing to be nervous about." He shakes his head looking down at the boy being held down. Mark shakes his head and almost chuckles.

"Sir, I was nervous last class and _I _was teaching with you." Guzman scowls.

"You're all dismissed. Great job today. Same time Thursday." Mark calls to the others, who nod obediently while slinking away slowly.

"I eat those berries before I go to sleep sometimes. Malcolm explained that they were safe to eat because they don't sedate you, so you can wake up quickly in case of an emergency..." Clark mutters. David stills but Mark and Dempsey keep a hold on him.

It doesn't take long for a doctor to arrive with a few nurses. They ask David some questions to which he responds clearly. He seems to come to his senses and begins apologizing to Corporal Reilly. He still is when he's walking to the infirmary with two nurses at his side. Laura brushes off the hovering nurse who wants to treat her wounds.

"They're not deep. Only flesh wounds, I can treat them myself." Her glare sends the nurse away; she grabs her gym bag and follows Mark and Clark to the lunch tables near the market. She's ticked off to the point where she doesn't care about the throbbing cuts. She wants to go through her exercise routines and sweat all her irritation away. Before she can though, she's dragged into explaining what happened to almost every soldier that passes by. She is seriously contemplating using one of the Fresh Privates as her punching bag when someone addresses her through the chorus of questions.

"What?" She barks turning to glare at whoever is calling her name. She regrets not steeling down her frustration as she watches the mildly concerned expression on Lieutenant Washington's face turn to angry in a heartbeat.

"Corporal Reilly, let's take a walk."

Alicia Washington doesn't often get days off. When she does they are usually spent in the market buying fruit to restock her fridge, and indulging the wonderful sway of her hair while it's out of her pony tail. On this day off she's already finished her food shopping and is in a good mood from helping out the younger school students with an art project. She believes as long as Nathaniel Taylor isn't letting her into Command for the day she'll be useful in at least one other place. She's indulging a few of the seamstresses by wearing an orange top that is by far one of _the_ most colourful and feminine thing she owns. Many civilians do a double take before figuring out who it is and it has her laughing half the time when people end up bumping into each other when they stop to identify her. It doesn't take them long; the combat boots are a dead giveaway. She's headed to the infirmary to dutifully congratulate a new mother on the arrival of her second daughter when she hears a troubling combination of words behind her.

"You couldn't wait for me? You knew I'd be running late, how can you not be looking at me when I'm talking to you!" Out of concern, Alicia turns, at the same time—she assumes upon reflection that he was simply reaching out to grab her shoulder—his arm lashes forward. The imperfect timing of their actions has her unprepared, thus—most appropriately—back handed. A surprised grunt escapes her and she stumbles a few feet with her hand coming up to her mouth, her hair falls into her face. Blood. Fabulous. The man grabs her shoulder and has her upright in an instant. She glares daggers at the man, whom for all intents and purposes looks mortified when he sees who he landed a blow on. She doesn't think before landing an equally reverberating blow to his jaw.

"Very gentlemanly of you, Mr. Cole." She withdraws her hand and licks her lips; coppery, split. Lovely.

"Lieutenant Washington, I had no idea..." His surprise is genuine but her disapproving, and downright pissed off expression has him very nearly quaking in his shoes.

"And who were you planning to give that to?" She demands anger boiling nicely. She knew it was possible for abusive relationships but until this point she'd relied on Nathaniel's belief that it wouldn't happen here; not with such an impossible second change in front of them.

"Lieutenant, I am so sorry, I did not intend to hit you—"

"Jason! What on Earth?" A rather pregnant Maria Cole walks over to them with a disbelieving expression on her face.

"What happened here?" Maria asks placing a hand on her husband's shoulder and looking to Alicia. A few civilians had stopped to watch but slowly started to disperse. Two or three soldiers hovered.

"I was reaching out to touch your shoulder, I swear I didn't—" Alicia holds up her hand silencing him.

"I'm not entirely certain as to the motives, but I was struck by your husband." Her voice is tight, perfectly in soldier mode, steeling down her irritation and suspicion.

"What on Earth possessed you to do that?" Maria asks. The younger woman looks very much like Alicia; similar height, stature, thin—even pregnant they look remarkably similar from behind—they resemble the other, she also has the same hair colour but unlike Alicia's long raven locks, Maria's hair is cropped.

"Nothing—you cut your hair?—I thought it was you. I was reaching to catch your shoulder but, Lieutenant you stopped and turned so suddenly…I was so nervous for the scan. I ate some of the calm berries—the ones I eat before going to sleep, then I saw you—actually, Lieutenant Washington—I thought you'd gone through with the scan without me. I got so mad, I have no idea why." Her irritation shifts a bit at the clearly distraught man's explanation.

"Those berries are a sleeping and meditation aid, Mr. Cole. Why don't you and your wife go inside and let a doctor look you over." He nods and the two enter the infirmary. Alicia grits her teeth and stalks back to her housing unit. She quickly changes into a new tank and grabs her customary jacket. She puts her gun holster on and ties her hair up; she makes her way back to the infirmary. She congratulates the new mother and then quickly slips to the back where Mr. and Mrs. Cole are looking at the baby scan dreamily.

"Doc?" She addresses and he turns to her.

"Ah, Lieutenant. Mr. Cole said you might be arriving." The older doctor pulls a chart onto his Plex and glances over it.

"As he explained, Mr. Cole consumed some of the calming berries shortly before your encounter." Alicia nods for him to continue.

"There have been a few cases in the last few days, of people becoming violent after consuming these berries. It would seem that they should only be used before going to sleep or meditating. Adrenaline—among other hormones has negative effects with a chemical in the berry. I'm having Dr. Wallace look over my findings." Just as he finishes a very upset trainee is led in by two nurses with Guzman in tow. He's lead to a bed where he lies down, a nurse brings up a screen and begins a scan. As she walks over to Guz she hears some of his troubled ramblings.

"I don't know what came over me! I got so angry, I felt like I had to keep fighting! I need to apologize to Corporal Reilly! She looked bad when I left! I didn't want to hurt her, I couldn't stop!" She frowns and comes to a stop beside Guzman.

"Something happen in pre-training, Guz?" She sets a concerned glance on the kid then levels her gaze on Guz.

"Yeah, kid went nuts on Reilly's ass. She and the kid rolled into the underbrush and she got cut up. His buddy thinks it might have something to do with the calming berries." She nods already a step toward the door.

"It probably is. Talk to Dr. Wei, he just briefed me about the berries. Had a nice experience myself." She pats his shoulder. He raises a brow at her.

"I see that. Tell me about later?" She chuckles and shrugs, heading for the door.

"Going to go check on Reilly?" He asks and she actually laughs this time.

"Yeah. Had I been in her shoes, I'm positive I'd already be at the T-Rex working off my frustration. So I'll go treat those cuts she suffered, don't want any stubborn soldiers getting infections, now do I?" She sends him a devilish grin and he chuckles.

"Yeah, stubborn, look who's talking." She rolls her eyes and walks out listening to his chuckles.

"I'll deal with it later, Guz."

"Sure you will." Her humour peters out after as soon as she nearly walks past the group of soldiers at the lunch tables. None of them are strictly needed to be anywhere—it's a training day for this half of the force—but it's odd to see so many crowded around one place. She realizes a moment before she sets eyes on Laura that the reason they're all there is to hear her retell the story. Laura's back and right side are facing her. As she approaches she sees that the Corporal is attempting to extract herself from the group. She looks like she's been through a macabre horror film.

"Corporal Reilly." She addresses and visibly sees the younger woman tense up. She's taken aback by Laura's hostile response.

"What?" She exclaims, eyes going wide when she realizes who she's snapped at. Irritation flares inside of her and she jerks her head away from the group.

"Corporal Reilly, let's take a walk." Laura sets her jaw firmly and picks up her gym bag before falling behind Alicia. The soldiers at the table had been silent until this point when a series of adolescent-esque "oooohhhhhs" as they departed. Alicia doesn't want to debrief Laura or treat her out in public and everywhere she can think of is occupied. She veers toward her housing unit with Laura in toe behind her. It doesn't take long for them to reach her unit and that's when she stops. She silently holds out her hand for Laura to hand her the gym bag and with a flash of confusion the younger woman does so. Alicia opens the door to her unit and walks in far enough for her to drop the bag near the couch before turning back to Laura. She walks purposefully over to the entrance and shuts the door.

Laura hasn't moved since entering, burying her frustration in an attempt to speak subordinately to the higher ranking soldier. Alicia shoves Laura against the wall with enough force that the Corporal lets a surprised and pained groan that is swallowed by the Lieutenant's incessant lips against hers, and groans again when their hips grind together in a near sinful manner. She tastes copper when she opens her mouth; Alicia nips and her bottom lip and them is gone all together, walking toward the kitchen area.

"Take your boots off then sit down on the couch; I don't want any blood where it doesn't have to be." Laura lets out a huff of breath and complies, toeing off her boots before sitting at the edge of the couch. Alicia doesn't speak to her when she removes her gun and holster, gets out her medical kit and places the needed materials on the counter; in those few minutes of idleness Laura's cuts start to sting, and her bruises throb more prominently. Alicia sets down a basket on the coffee table and looks down at Laura's steeled expression.

"Take your shirt off." She says before disappearing once again. Laura does as she's told gritting her teeth at the sting involved with the movement. Alicia returns with a bowl of water and a wash cloth already wet. After setting the bowl down she moves to the side of the couch and toes of her own boots before placing the cloth over Laura's shoulder. It's cool a refreshing over her heated skin. Alicia remains silent as she runs the cloth over the cuts, and skin; she moves to wet it again after a few minutes and places the cloth at the back of Laura's neck. Her sigh is hinted with the slightest trace of a moan and this has Alicia quirking her lips into a smirk. She removes the cloth and cleans over another area of skin, but leans down and presses a kiss to the back of Laura's neck. The younger woman's breath hitches as Alicia sucks at the spot before moving around to clean Laura's sides. She drops the cloth into the bowl and takes out a disinfectant; promptly she has a clear coat of the stuff over each of Laura's cuts, she moves again and starts spraying the cell regenerating serum over the wounds.

"What happened?" She asks, diligently waiting for each wound to heal before moving on to the next.

"One of the kids I'm teaching went crazy while we sparred. We ended up in the underbrush full of those sharp plants Malcolm likes. The kid ate some berries before, might have something to do with how he reacted." Her tone is neutral except for traces of worry and irritation.

"Yeah, I heard that part. Why are you brooding?" Laura hisses when Alicia's hand lands over one of the places David had landed a good blow.

"Bruising?" Alicia inquires and Laura nods. The Lieutenant disappears once again.

"Where?" She asks opening the med kit again. Laura does a quick evaluation.

"Both sides of my chest, sides, torso, left shin, and left thigh."

"Remove your pants." Alicia says from the kitchen as she sifts through her bag. Laura takes a deep breath as she does so, standing up and stepping out of the cargo pants and absently folding them before dropping them onto the far side of the coffee table.

"Stay standing." Laura quirks her brow in response but obeys none the less. Alicia returns swiftly and dips her hand into a jar of what looks like jelly. Before she can say anything the Lieutenant is massaging the gel into her sore ribs with at a pace slightly too leisurely to be subordinate.

"Why are you still mad?" Alicia asks again, bringing her hands down to Laura's sides and continuing their leisurely assault over her bruising. Laura frowns.

"I'm not mad at the kid. I'm displeased with the fact that I didn't notice something was up before it went too far. I couldn't fight the kid off properly because he was going nuts. The other kids saw that. I don't want them to think one of their teachers can be easily beaten."

"Did he beat you?" Alicia asks sitting on the coffee table as she works her way down Laura's body.

"No, but he had me down twice, and he's significantly less bloody than I am—was."

"What ended the spar?" She's at her shin, having completely over looked Laura's thigh for the time being.

"I kicked him in his chest. Then Mark and Dempsey held him down." She suppresses a shudder when Alicia moves her hand to her thigh and kneads in the cooling gel.

"That isn't weak in my books; that's protecting yourself." She puts the jar into the basket and pushes Laura gently back onto the couch. She sits, not paying attention to the older woman.

"He had me, if it had been in a training session instead of class he'd have had me tapping, he took me by surprise and I keep telling myself that can't happen!" She lets out an audible groan when Alicia pulls Laura's mouth to hers and twists her fingers into the Corporal's cork-screw curls. Alicia pushes her down onto the couch cushions and straddles Laura's lap, rolling her hips in a fashion that has the younger woman arching into her. Alicia breaks the kiss, nipping and sucking trails down Laura's neck until she finds a spot that has the kinky-haired woman beneath her humming in approval.

"I like this kind anger management." Laura mutters gasping when Alicia nips at the visible rise of her breast. Her hands move into the Lieutenant's hair and tugs. Alicia suddenly stops in her tracks and moves up to capture Laura's lips again.

"This will not do." She husks slipping three fingers under the sports bra Laura's sporting and letting it snap back into place. Laura sits up, latching onto Alicia bottom lip with her teeth.

"Then this has to go too." Her eyes darken as she slips her hands up Alicia's top and cup her breasts above the fabric of her bra. Alicia indulges her and catches her mouth before leaning back slightly to allow Laura to slide her hands from beneath her shirt to peel her jacket off of her body. Laura sucks at the new exposed skin of Alicia's shoulder and the older woman's fingers coil into her hair once again. Alicia throws her tank top over her shoulder and quickly gets her fingers under Laura's sports bra and has the offending object off of Laura's body with very little coaxing. With her back against the couch cushions once more Alicia slips back into her questing of the younger woman's body with her tongue. Her hands find their way to the swell of Laura's breasts and squeeze. Both parties hum at the contact, until Alicia latches onto a nipple and has Laura yelping when she bites down. Laura's hands move back to Alicia's hair holding her in place as she ravishes her breasts with licks, sucking and nipping. It has her forgetting her frustrations even more when Alicia switches breasts and tweaks the freshly assaulted nipple between two fingers.

Laura groans at the loss when Alicia continues her trek down Laura's body. She nips at the rises of her abs and sucks at the flesh near Laura's navel enough to leave an angry red mark; she takes her time when her lips find the curvy scar that disappears under the waistband of Laura's underwear, sucking, tracing, nipping; making Laura quiver with anticipation. Alicia smiles against Laura's skin when her trail of kisses meets an obstacle. Laura wastes no time lifting her hips for the Lieutenant to slide her underwear down her legs and to the floor where it is casually discarded. Alicia parts Laura's legs and kisses the inside of her thighs before getting closer to her goal. Laura moans none too subtly when Alicia's lips latch onto her sensitive nub and she swirls her tongue over it. Laura's hips tilt into the contact and her grip in Alicia's hair tightens when the woman in action slides two fingers into her heated center and begins to pump into her.

"Oh, God, don't stop." Laura moans, chest rising and falling rapidly to account for her fast approaching completion. With the arm she isn't using, Alicia keeps Laura's hips planted on the couch; they jump with each new spark of pleasure that shoots through her. A low hum starts in the back of Laura's throat and rises in volume until she's careening over the edge with a satiating scream. Alicia crawls over her with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"—needs to happen more often." Laura looks at her with half lidded eyes. Alicia hums and kisses Laura before the younger woman manages to flip them.

"Would that be getting angry or sex?" Alicia asks deviously as Laura steps off of the couch in all her glory and begins to unbutton her jeans.

"Oh most definitely sex. Anger I can do without." She yanks both Alicia's pants and underwear off her hips and executes the 'come hither' motion for the raven-haired woman to sit up. Alicia does and meets Laura's mouth eagerly as the younger woman's arms wrap around her to unclasp her bra. Alicia lets it slide off and onto the floor joining the other items. Laura straddles her hips and presses her into the cushions, and melds their mouths together; Alicia's hands come up to tangle in Laura's exquisite curls. Laura moans at the taste of her on Alicia's lips. She kisses along Alicia's throat; hands wander and pause to massage her breasts. Her mouth quickly finds its way to meet her hands and ravishes the Lieutenant's rather impressive pair with her mouth.

"They're perfect." Laura mumbles kissing the underside of each breast. Alicia's chuckles die out into a hum when Laura's lips find a particularly sensitive scar below her right breast.

"Your mouth—up here." Alicia says, pulling Laura back up to her and locking their lips. Laura's hand slips between them and slides through Alicia's slick folds.

"Yesss." She moans hips rising to initiate more contact. Laura grins into their lips lock and slides two fingers inside Alicia, who hums with delight. With a thumb over Alicia's clit, Laura starts to move, removing her mouth from Alicia's to trail kisses over her neck. Alicia's whimpers and mews of pleasure do nothing but encourage Laura and she circles the Lieutenant's clit with her thumb eliciting the most wonderful sounds from the normally composed woman.

"God." Alicia moans throwing her head back against the couch when a wave of pleasure passes though her. Several other name's of deities pass Alicia's lips when Laura's free hand massages her breast and she sucks and the older woman's pulse. It's nearly enough to have her come a second time when Alicia tumbles over the edge with her name drawn out in a loud wail. Laura rubs circles around Alicia's clit, prolonging her pleasure, and grins wickedly when Alicia's body goes taught for a second time and her moan gets caught in her throat as she's thrown over for all over again. Laura kisses her shoulder as she comes down from her high.

"Oh yes, this most definitely is happening more often." Alicia breathes bringing their mouths back into contact. Laura chuckles, and sits up revelling in the positively glorious flush she's managed to put on Alicia's face.

"That's four then?" Alicia quirks a brow at Laura who purses her lips.

"First time horizontally—if I can put that much colour in your cheeks I'd never let you out." She winks at Alicia, who frowns and covers her heated cheeks with her hands. Laura stands and starts donning her undergarments. Alicia sits up.

"You know what angles we've fucked in?" Alicia grins standing in turn and plucking her underwear off the floor.

"Twice vertical; in the Eye, and in the conference room in Command. Once against that round storage container, so a thirty five degree angle, or an arch if you're picky; and on your couch which for all intents and purposes is horizontal." She rambles off the information thoughtlessly as she adjusts her sports bra and Alicia attempts to contain a fit of giggles (Alicia Washington does _not_ giggle.) but loses partially as her chest shakes with silent laughter. Laura looks at her with a look of horror on her face.

"I can't believe I said that." She whispers looking around quickly trying to remember where she put her pants. Alicia steps over to Laura and brings two fingers under her chin, making her look at her.

"That's cute." She says and kisses her lightly. Despite kissing her back, Laura makes a face at Alicia.

"It wasn't supposed to be cute." She mumbles mentally smacking herself in the face. Alicia lets the bridge of her nose rest over Laura's cheek.

"Yeah? Well, this is the first time I've gotten you completely naked and the first time I've been able to fully appreciate these." Her hands snake up and squeeze Laura's breasts through their restraints. Laura lets out a laugh and meets Alicia's mouth again.

"And I'm not picky; thirty-five degree angle is just fine." Alicia grins and jumps out of the way of Laura's swat. Alicia is still smiling when she goes into her room to get some clothes.

"Laura?" She calls and she walks through the door pulling on a pair of runner's shorts. Alicia smirks.

"Nice shorts. Since I guessed right and you're going to T-Rex; do you want a shirt?" Laura smiles, never having heard the Lieutenant call the Training and Recreation building by its nick name. She nods and Alicia tosses her a gray top and proceeds to pull on a sports bra and tank top before bending down with purpose to fetch her own pair of shorts from her bottom drawer.

"Nice ass." Laura says and receives a wicked grin is response as Alicia wiggles into her shorts. She absently starts shoving a change of clothes and other necessities into a bag before sitting down and tugging on her shoes. Laura pulls on the top and admires the design; good quality workout wear. She disappears into the living room to put her own shoes on. Alicia walks in and shoves her boots into the bag as well as her gun. As usual they're both keeping their tags on. With a final smirk the two leave Alicia's housing unit en route to the T-Rex.

"What do you mean you're tired?" Laura exclaims breathlessly, going into her third and final set of her workout. Alicia tips her head back and downs a large mouth full of water.

"I'm just taking a water break, Reilly." She says, quickly getting into position for her third set of a workout Laura had introduces to her "TOD" she called it, meaning you'd feel like dying after completing it if you weren't used to it. Laura's already completed the five Man Makers and has moved on to the twenty low burpee hops. Alicia's body burns in a way it hasn't for a while; she runs the perimeter with Nathaniel every morning, does the daily combat training and often indulges in the weight room. After this, she thinks she may swap her nightly run for "TOD". She groans through her last low burpee hop and goes right into the twisted push up. Laura's already half way finished her twenty five competition push ups by the time she starts those and is up and stretching by the time Alicia finally finishes the entire routine.

"I think this is another thing I need to do more often." Alicia says, positively revelling in the hum of her muscles. She goes into some stretches and watches curiously as to what Laura has started doing next. She's pulling on some boxing mitts and sending Alicia an inquisitive look.

"Box with me, Lieutenant." Alicia obliges and pulls on another pair of mitts. They're both sore and tired but they fall into an easy exchange of punches. It doesn't take long for them to get into it; ducking and dancing out of the way of the other as their exchange becomes heated.

"Who pissed you off today, Alicia?" Laura asks breathing heavy as she throws a punch; she's asking about the bruise on her jaw. Alicia ducks letting out a heavy breath before jumping back up and throwing in her own punch.

"Mr. Cole, in the agriculture department ate those berries before going to his wife's Foetal Scan. She cut her hair and he thought I was her." She explains sinking her glove into Laura's gut, making her gasp. Alicia grins, and the two fall into a pattern of feigning attacks.

"He was muttering, and I was concerned. I turned around at the same time he reached out to grab my shoulder. I thought he'd backhanded me, certainly felt like it." They've stopped their bout and are throwing lazy swings at the other. Alicia grabs both of Laura's wrists and pulls her forward to capture her mouth in a sated kiss.

"In the end I got you naked and writhing under me so, it's at worked out." Laura quirks her lips in a half smile and intercepts Alicia's before she can pull away. The lieutenant opens her mouth to her and chuckles when they exchange nips. The sound of the heavy front door opening has them pulling apart and exchanging a few more swings before the new arrival show themselves. They exchange banter before Taylor walks in, with a pleasant look on his face.

"Corporal Reilly, Wash, it's getting awful late." His mock disapproval shows through.

"Evening, Commander." Laura replies nodding at him and then Alicia before starting to remove her gloves.

"Just finishing up, sir." Alicia says pulling off the gloves and moving to spray them with a disinfectant. Laura does the same and offers a smile to Alicia.

"It was good training with you, Lieutenant. Have a good evening." Laura nods to Taylor.

"Goodnight, sir." And she heads for the locker room to shower.

"You heard what happened today, I take it?" Alicia asks coming to stand in front of Nathaniel. He nods, left hand idly coming to ghost over the bruise on her jaw.

"Malcolm filled me in. Reynolds told me you took Reilly aside." Concern, for both her and his younger soldiers; Alicia nods.

"Yes. When Guz told me what had happened with Reilly in their class I told him to talk to the Doc because the berries were involved with what caused this—" She motions to her jaw, "I found her being asked by almost half the force on their REC day what had happened. She was miffed so I took her to my unit to treat her wounds—it was more private-and offered to join her here to blow off steam." Nathaniel nods an amused smile gracing his features.

"What?" She asks, cocking a brow at him.

"You've been here since three, it's nine now, you're the last ones here; what where you doing?" He seems almost exhausted just thinking about her activities.

"Joined in the pickup basketball game, then the volleyball, cardio workout; jacks, knees ups—you know the one—and then weights. L—" she clears her throat, "—Reilly talked me into three routines she usually does, she's real dedicated; I'm not sure how I'm still standing." Nathaniel chuckles, and pats her shoulder.

"How do you feel?" He asks with a raised brow, she lets out a whoosh of breath and smiles.

"Very nearly exhausted, sir."

"That sounds about right. See you at the dawn patrol?" He's already moving toward the door, she nods once.

"Bright and early." She replies quickly stooping to pick up her water bottle then making her way to the locker room.

"Don't forget to eat something." He calls back just before she disappears. She hears water running and smiles to herself pulling her own towel out of her bag, stripping down and grabbing her multipurpose wash.

"Do you always do such intense routines?" She asks setting her towel on a hook and sliding the curtain closed.

"Yes, everyday if I can. It helps me sleep." The cool water on her skin is a wonderful contrast and goose bumps rise on her skin.

"I know I'll sleep well tonight." Alicia says, agreeing to the second part. Laura's water shuts off Alicia hears the younger woman towelling off.

"That's not what I meant..." She mumbles before padding into the changing area. Alicia frowns while she scrubs herself clean.

"What _did_ you mean?" She says voice raised over the running water. She hears Laura's breath of a laugh and hears footsteps come partway into the shower area.

"That's another story for another time. Goodnight, Alicia." Her tone is fond.

"Goodnight." She answers before the footsteps disappear, and the door closes. As she rinses the suds out of her hair, she realizes that she's more than content with Laura's answer. It means they'll be continuing _this_. Whatever _this_ is, and that is a prospect she admits freely to liking.


End file.
